End of ‘Assisted Drinking’
Drug commissioner wants beer and wine only from the age of 18
02/11/2022, 09:47 am
Burkhard Blienert, the federal government’s drug commissioner, wants to end underage access to alcohol and tobacco. For this he calls for the minimum age for purchase to be raised to 18 years. Cannabis users, on the other hand, should not be stigmatized.
The federal government’s commissioner for addiction and drug issues, Burkhard Blienert, thinks it “doesn’t make sense” for 16-year-olds to be allowed to buy beer and wine. “For me, there are many medical arguments in favor of raising the working age for beer, wine and sparkling wine to 18,” Blienert told the “Welt”. “We’ll see what’s politically possible.”
“What doesn’t work at all is the so-called accompanied drinking,” Blienert told the “Welt”. According to the Youth Protection Act, young people from the age of 14 may drink beer, wine or sparkling wine in the presence of a person with custody.
“We have to gradually move from a free rampant growth to a regulated, controlled use of tobacco and alcohol,” he said. “The availability is too low threshold.” Blienert considers it “paradoxical that you can buy tobacco around the clock almost anywhere from vending machines. We need a well-founded debate on this as well.”
The drug commissioner said that alcohol and tobacco should not be advertised. “I think it is necessary to clearly limit the advertising opportunities for alcohol and tobacco.” He also considers advertising for gambling inappropriate. “However, the responsibility here does not lie with the federal government, but with the states. Personally, I would say: This advertising should be stopped.”
Hearing and acceptance for drug users
At the same time, the federal government is committed to the legalization of cannabis – albeit in a controlled form. Blienert also called for a realignment of drug policy. “In health issues, criminal law is not therapy, but rather problematic and disabling,” he stated. The focus should be on health, not criminal law. Drug users should not be stigmatized, but should be heard and accepted. Blienert announced that he would talk to the states and municipalities “about the expansion and support of drug consumption rooms”.
Last year, the Federal Statistical Office presented figures on alcohol consumption among young people in Germany. The information related to the year 2019. According to this, around 14,500 minors were hospitalized for acute alcohol abuse. Around 22 percent of the children and young people affected by alcohol abuse were under the age of 15, writes the “Spiegel”. The numbers in the 10 to 15 age group rose particularly sharply: 3,200 of them were treated in hospital for alcohol poisoning in 2019. That was 8.1 percent more than in the previous year.